From California to the World

In the time-honoured “Cantor Cristão”, the older brazilian baptist hymnal, we have a hymn (nº 436) that is very appropriate for singing in meetings with a missionary emphasis.
Charles Hutchison Gabriel (1856-1932) wrote the words and music for the hymn “Send the Light” especially for Foreign Missions Sunday, which was to be commemorated by the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, in San Francisco (California), on Easter Sunday of 1890.
In Brazil, Gabriel’s hymn was translated by Solomon Louis Ginsburg (1867-1927), and given the title “Dai-nos luz” (Give Us Light).
Gabriel alludes to his church: “Let us pray that Grace may everywhere abound”. In Ginsburg’s translation, this phrase was given a different meaning that had to do with the difficulties of his missionary work in Brazil’s interior. In Portuguese the phrase came out this way: “Yes, this light of Jesus that illumines the way we must follow should shine out everywhere”.
The underlying and subconscious concerns of Gabriel and Ginsburg were different, though they were contemporaries. Those of Gabriel evidence a certain economic-political-theological background, while those of Ginsburg show a pragmatic-social-spiritual foundation.
In the first verse, when Gabriel refers to “the restless wave”, may have been warning against the Populist movement, the migration to California or the evolutionist leanings, which were upsetting politicians, businessmen and theologians at the time.
In the second, the “golden offering” may have been a reference to the dispute between Populists (a gold and silver standard for the currency) and the Republicans (a gold standard exclusively).
In the fourth, Gabriel recommends, right at the time of the Gold Rush, that believers “gather jewels” … but for “a crown above” …
The intimate concerns of Ginsburg are more evident in the first verse (“a widespread cry”, “in darkness, full of dread”): Ginsburg makes himself spokesman for the anxiety of the populace for light, for their surroundings and for their souls.
So, we have been able to verify that this hymn was produced with two different areas of focus, since the two authors came from different societies and cultures.
What else have we shown? That even after 107 years, with great changes in the economic, political and social conditions of the United States and Brazil, the spiritual situation remains the same: both of these peoples need the blessed light of the Gospel.